


Of all the battles that I've won...

by CharlotteDaBookworm



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Angst, Canon Compliant, Established Relationship, Gen, Grief/Mourning, Hurt No Comfort, Magical Bond, Nyx Ulric's Self-Esteem, Nyx and Libertus are bros, Nyx and Regis had a bond and it broke with his death and Nyx is not in a good place, Ring of the Lucii (Final Fantasy XV), Self-Sacrifice, and the backlash of the breaking of such, silent communication
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-04
Updated: 2019-03-04
Packaged: 2019-11-12 00:59:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,039
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18000791
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CharlotteDaBookworm/pseuds/CharlotteDaBookworm
Summary: ...they don't matter now you're gone.Nothing matters now you're gone





	Of all the battles that I've won...

**Author's Note:**

> I don't own FFXV. Title/Summary comes from Tom Walker's "Now You're Gone"

***

"Nyx?"

 

Power surged in his veins, blood pounding in his ears as magic burned under his skin - pain everywhere and nowhere, all at once, but that physical pain was nothing compared to the hole in his chest where his heart should be. There was an emptiness in him now, one that he could sense, a void where something that was Regis had once curled, one that even the magic of the Lucii bubbling in his veins couldn't fill.

 

It hurt.

 

It hurt, and the agony of that drowned out all else: the pain of the hollowpoint in his chest; the stuttering discomfort of his broken ribs; the burning torture of the power that was both killing him and keeping him alive until sunset. All of that faded in comparison to the gaping, empty chasm of that loss.

 

The world itself was faded, washed out with grief and pain and loss, and even anger - even rage at the traitor before him who had murdered the man that he had loved - was lost in the haze of that.

 

When he looked at Titus Drautos - when he looked at _Glauca_ ; the scourge of Galahd, who had slaughtered untold numbers of his people, who had betrayed them all and butchered Lucis' King in cold blood, who he had respected and looked up to, who they had all _trusted_ \- he felt nothing. Nothing, where once rage and betrayal had burned in his soul.

 

Nothing but pain and emptiness.

 

It didn't matter now. None of it did.

 

Nothing but...

 

" _Nyx?_ "

 

As he finally lowered his hand, the palm still tingling with the lightning he had thrown at Niflheim's Blade, Nyx turned to face his oldest friend. "Libs," he said, an acknowledgement, as his lips quirked in a mockery of his usual smirk.

 

The ring on his hand was cold and heavy.

 

Libertus paled, looking at him. His brother had always known him far too well. "Nyx..." he breathed near silently and he felt a flare of regret for the pain that he'd caused him. "What the _hell_ are you doing, Hero?" Libs demanded, because he had always dealt with grief through anger - Libs had always had a big heart and he felt too much, all the time, and Nyx knew that anger was just _easier_.

 

Anger could be channelled. Tears couldn't.

 

"What my King asked of me." _What the man I loved begged of me_.

 

And he knew that Regis never meant for him to go this far but...

 

But he'd protect them, while he still could, because Regis had asked it of him; because of his duty and his love and his desperate hope that all of this hadn't been in vain. Because Libs was his brother and the Princess was young and neither of them was going to die while Nyx could still help them.

 

Because it was the last order that his King - his husband - had given to him and Nyx was helpless in the face of that.

 

Libs flinched back from the blunt words and the unspoken layers beneath them. "I'm sorry..." he trailed off.

 

Nyx shook his head. "Don't be," he said softly, smile becoming just a little more real as he stared at his best friend. It wasn't his fault. Libs had always felt too much, yes, but Nyx was the one that had always dived headfirst into love - consequences be damned. Those who knew him well had always said that it would kill him, one day, and Nyx had never denied it because they weren't _wrong_. If it was the choice between his life, and the life of one that he loved, then he'd never doubted what he would choose.

 

His life was nothing, compared to theirs.

 

"Looks like you saved me this time. Guess I owe you one for a change." He said, instead of anything else - instead of the apologies and explanations and emotional words that caught in his throat.

 

"Please," Libs scoffed, playing along with a knowing glint in his eyes. They'd never needed words to understand each other. "Like I haven't been dragging your arse out of life-or-death situations since we were kids. You still owe me a dozen."

 

"About that, I'm gonna need another favour." _I'm sorry Libs_.

 

He sighed, longsuffering but for the worry and grief etched into his face. "What is it this time?" _You're an idiot, Nyx_.

 

_I know_. "Take this," the ring slipped from his finger easily and, just for a moment, Nyx clenched his fist around it - clutching desperately to this last remnant of Regis - before he handed it over to his brother. The edges of the chasm in his chest clawed at him as he let go. "And this is Princess Lunafreya Nox Fleuret. See them safely outside of Insomnia for me, would you?" The words sounded final, even to him, and he could tell that his companions heard it.

 

They both protested, tried to convince him otherwise, but Nyx had only until sunrise and Glauca was the greatest threat here.

 

Libs and the Princess would protect each other long enough to escape, he knew that. Especially if he stayed behind.

 

He'd already traded his life for theirs, it didn't really matter what he did now. Might as well make something of his last few hours.

 

"Nyx," Libertus held out his kukri, the one that had been his mothers once, and Nyx shook his head.

 

"Planning on punching your way out of the city? Keep it, Libs." _I love you_. "Now we're even." _Good luck_.

 

He shook his head. "No. We'll settle up once you're back in Galahd. Me and everybody else, we'll be waiting for you." _Nyx..._

 

_I'm sorry_. "I'll be counting on you, hero." _Keep them safe for me, please_.

 

Their eyes met - Libertus' full of burgeoning grief, and his own calm and understanding - and Libs nodded. _I will_.

 

And then they were gone, running towards freedom.

 

Nyx turned back to Glauca - to Drautos - and prepared to fight, not for his life, not to win, not to kill the man in front of him, but for time. Libs and the Princess would be fine. His victory didn't matter. But he'd kill him anyway. Fulfil his Kings orders one last time.

 

One last battle to win.

 

***

**Author's Note:**

> ...I have no idea where this came from. Sorry?


End file.
